1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to programming development environments performed by computers, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for displaying a topological view of a multi-tier network configuration.
2. Description of Related Art
With the fast growing popularity of the Internet and Intranets, especially Web-based networks, there is also a fast growing demand for Internet and Intranet access to databases. However, it is especially difficult to use relational database management system (RDBMS) software with Web-based networks. One of the problems with using RDBMS software with Web-based networks is the lack of programming development environments that can be used to develop both Web-based and RDBMS-based applications.
For example, Web-based networks operate using the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). HTTP is the protocol used by Web clients and Web servers to communicate between themselves using these hyperlinks. HTML is the language used by Web servers to create and connect together documents that contain these hyperlinks. This protocol and language results in the communication and display of graphical information that incorporates hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are network addresses that are embedded in a word, phrase, icon or picture that are activated when the user selects a highlighted item displayed in the graphical information.
In contrast, most RDBMS software uses a Structured Query Language (SQL) interface. The SQL interface has evolved into a standard language for RDBMS software and has been adopted as such by both the American Nationals Standard Organization (ANSI) and the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Thus, there is a need in the art simplified development environments for RDBMS software across an Internet or Intranet, and especially via Web-based networks. Further, there is a need for a simplified view of the network connectivity, activities, and performance. This information is used for load balancing and resource allocation to improve the performance of the network and "fine tune" the applications under development. There is also a need for a tool that may also be used in production environments to identify the network performance bottlenecks and optimize the network resources accordingly. The present invention satisfies those needs.